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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Judge orders urgent hearing of GCSE English challenge | Judge orders urgent hearing of GCSE English challenge |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| An urgent hearing of a legal challenge over this summer's controversial GCSE English results has been ordered by a judge. | |
| An alliance of pupils, schools and councils had lodged papers asking for a judicial review at London's High Court. | An alliance of pupils, schools and councils had lodged papers asking for a judicial review at London's High Court. |
| The case centres on last-minute shifts in grade boundaries in June's exams. | The case centres on last-minute shifts in grade boundaries in June's exams. |
| If permission to seek a judicial review is granted, then a full two-day court hearing will be held immediately. The hearing is expected within weeks. | |
| The judge said the decision about whether to hold a judicial review should be heard in open court, after privately considering the merits of the application. | |
| Almost 400 individual cases are involved in the mass challenge. | Almost 400 individual cases are involved in the mass challenge. |
| Last month the alliance served court documents on England's exams regulator, Ofqual, and two exam boards, AQA and Edexcel. | Last month the alliance served court documents on England's exams regulator, Ofqual, and two exam boards, AQA and Edexcel. |
| They claim pupils sitting the exams in one part of the year got different grades for the same marks obtained by those in another part of the year. | |
| The news comes as more than 45,000 pupils prepare to resit their GCSE English exams. | The news comes as more than 45,000 pupils prepare to resit their GCSE English exams. |
| The row over the English exams broke out as national GCSE results were published in August. They showed a fall in the percentage achieving grades A* to C for the first time in the exam's history. | |
| 'Graded generously' | |
| Ofqual's initial inquiry into the controversy concluded that January's GCSE English assessments were "graded generously" but the June boundaries were properly set and candidates' work was graded correctly. | |
| The regulator insisted it would be inappropriate for either set of exams to be regraded. Instead, students would be given an extra chance to resit the GCSE. | |
| Since then Ofqual has stood by its actions, and responded to the news of the hearing saying: "We will co-operate fully with the judicial review process and will continue to rigorously defend our decisions." | |
| Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "We are delighted that the High Court has agreed that it is important to act quickly and has expedited the hearing. | |
| "The longer it drags on, the longer justice is denied to all those students left in limbo." | |
| National Association of Head Teachers' general secretary Russell Hobby said: "We welcome the judge's recognition of the importance of this case and the need for it to be heard as soon as possible. | |
| "It is vital that the injustice suffered by so many young people is addressed without delay." |